Carrier for braiding machines



July 10, 1934. M. KRlsslEP Er AL CARRIER FORl BRAIDING MACHINES www Filed April l5, 1955 Illllllliilillllllllil July 10, 1934. M KRlssn-:P Er AL CARRIER FOR BRAIDING MACHINES Filed April 15, 193s 2 Sheets-Sheet FLE- 7- F.: E- -j l- L y M 0 am' lrss 152,

INVENTQIy ATTO Patented July 1Q, 1934 UNETED STATES CARRIER FOR BRAIDING MACHINES Max Krissiep and Herman Staub, Wyomissing,

assignors to Textile Machine Works,

Wyomissing, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania.

Application April 15, 1933, Serial No. 666,282

9 Claims.

This invenion relates to braiding machines, and more particularly to the rotatable traveling carriers for supporting the bobbins or spools of yarn, thread or the like in such machines.

Braiding machines of the type employing a multiplicity of rotatable and variously movable yarn carriers generally have included tension means to more or less uniformly feed the'yarn from the yarn spools or cops, such means being arranged to eiect stopping of the machine upon breakage of the yarn or thread.

The tension exerted upon the yarn by the carriers has not always been constant, frequently manifesting considerable variation in different Working positions in the same machine. This has resulted in a certain non-uniformity of the braided product, as well as thread breakage, and other failures, which it has generally been possible to remedy before becoming serious in view 20 of the fact that the machines have rotated at a comparatively low speed.

In the case of high speed machines, however, additional problems are encountered, among which appears the desirability of eliminating as far as possible thread breakage, with consequent frequent stoppage of the machine and entanglement of loose ends of yarn among the moving parts, and non-uniformity of the work due to irregularity of tensions in the braid strands.

Accordingly, the present invention aims to simplify and improve the construction of the braiding carriers and render them sensitive and positive in action, so that the yarn tensioning or take-up member of the braiding carrier will function accurately and uniformly in controlling the yarn feeding rotation of the bobbin or yarn holder, thus adapting the latter particularly for the conditionsmet with in high speed operation of the braiding machine, in addition to providing ,1.1.0 carriers equally advantageous for use with low speed machines. Another object in line with the foregoing is to enable the Ybraidingcarrier to effect quick stoppage of the machine whenever a yarn breakage may occur.

In the case of certain braided products the yarn may be unwound from a single carrier in a plurality of strands. When one strand or any number less than the total number of strands breaks and the machine continues in operation, defects in the braided product will almost surely occur before the trouble becomes apparent and can be corrected. Also, the broken strand may become badly tangled among the rapidly moving parts. Accordingly, the present invention also `5.5 has for one of its objects the provision Vof means to stop the braiding machine practically immediately on the occurrence of a break of any strand or strands in a plural strand yarn.

With these and other objects in view, which will become apparent from the following detailed description of the illustrative embodiments of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings, the invention resides in the novel elements of construction, mechanisms and combination of parts in'cooperative relationship, as hereinafter 65 more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a side View, in elevation of one form of a braiding carrier having certain novel features ofthe present invention incorporated therein. 70

Fig. 2 is a partial side view taken from the opposite side of Fig. 1 and showing an elevation of the control levers in Working tension position.

Fig. 3 Y is a view similar to Fig. 2 illustrating the control levers in idle tension position.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view, partly broken away, taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation illustrating a modified formr of carrier for feeding a plurality of strands' simultaneously from a single yarn spool or package.

Fig. 6 is an end elevation of the strand control means for stopping a carrier, looking from the inside, certain of the parts being broken away to more clearly show others.

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 5, showing the plural yarn-breakage stop-control in operation.

Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view partly broken away and taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 8 but taken on the line 9 9 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 10 is a partial side view taken from the opposite side of Fig. 7.

Fig. 11 is a transverse sectional View through the thread guide upright, taken on the line 11-f-11 of Fig. 6, on a slightly enlarged scale. s

A braiding carrier is'usually provided with a body portion Whereon the yarn supply is carried, generally upon a. spool or bobbin, and a foot or guiding portion which cooperates with other parts of the braiding machine.

Referring to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 represents one embodiment of the invention including a bobbin 1 upon which is mounted a yarn 105 or strand package 2. The lower formation or body portion in this instance is of a construction adapted for a particular commercial type of braiding machine for which purpose thecarrier includes a foot portion comprising spaced 110 colf plates 3 3, connected by a shuttle piece 3c, and including a downwardly extending pin 3b for engagement with the drive gears of the braiding machine.

Integral with the lower portion is an upright base member 4 upon which is pivotally secured a bifurcated yarn tensioning or take-up control lever 5 and a pivoted locking pawl lever 6. A spindle 7 which rises from the base membei` 4, receives the yarn or strand supply 2. Desirably, the yarn supply is carried upon the bobbin 1, which may` be of usual construction, with downwardly extending circumferentially arranged spaced teeth or serrations 9 adapted for engagement with the locking pawl 6 whereby the bobbin and yarn supply may be positively held .from rotary movement immediately after each feed of a certain length of yarn strand until a further'feeding is permitted by means of the tensioning lever 5 releasing the pawl 6 from the teeth of the bobbin 1. y i The yarn tensioning lever 5 has the opposite ends of its two arms 5a and 5b united bya tubular shaft 10 which is journale'd in a bearing l1 on the base member 4, and' its front end is formed with a hook-shaped yarn.' guide 13. The arm 5b is provided with anintermediateeccentricprojection or cam surface 14.as shown in Fig. 2, arranged to coa'ct with'a projection or cam member on the pawl 6 to cause the latter to rotate on its pivot 16, thereby disengaging the pawl tooth or detent 8 from contactwith the bobbin teeth 9. .This pawlaction insures the properfeeding of ayarn .in a -taut condition and also prevents slackor overfeeding of the yarn. The lcver 5 is raised. to the yarn releasing position as shown in Fig. l and Fig. 2.by an increasedy tension of the yarn strand caused by. the braiding of the yarn on an article of manufacture (not shown). The tension of the yarn strand is maintained substantially constant by a coil spring 18 mounted within the hollow shaft 10 the ends of which are respectively hooked through an aperture 19 in one of the lever` arms 5a or 5b and the other endY hookedy through lan aperture 20 in an arm 21 of the pawl lever 6. The pawl lever is formed with a detentpcrtion 8 at its end opposite to the cam portionhl. ,One endof the pivot 16 is secured at vthe mid-portion of thepawl lever 6; and the arm 21V is rigidlysecured to the opposite end of the pivot.r .The body of the pivot is journaled in a bearing 11a provided at the upper part of the base 4. Thus a rocking motion is imparted to the pawl lever 6 during the similar but opposite directional movement of the lever 5. v

A thread guide upright 24 is xed to an extension 22 on the base 4 and has one or more suitable yarn guide eyes thereon, indicated at 25 and 26. The yarn strand 27 unwinds from the package 2 to pass through the guide eye 25, then eX- tends downward and around the hook-guide 13 anyd upwardly throughthe -eye 2 6V to the article f of manufacture to which the yarnl is fed during the braiding operation.

' Fig; 2 illustratesthe cam surface`14 on the lever arm 5b in the operation of causing-the cam-follower 15 to rise,thereb`y oscillating the pawl lever 6 and disengaging the detent 8 fromthe-bobbin teeth 9. YThe bobbin l and the yarn package held thereon are now free/'to rotate rand release a lengthV of yarn, ,The ,lever 5 immediately responds to the decreased tensionrofthe fed strand 27 by means of the common. spring 18 which simultaneously forces the lever, hook 13downward Leeaese the outwardly curved surface of the arm 5 will serve as an abutment to the usual braiding machine automatic stop motion lever.

Fig. `4 illustrates the biased relation of the lever 5 and the pawl 6 by means of the action of the common spring 18 and the opposed relation of the spring ends in the separate apertures 19 and 20. The cam Vsurface 14 acts as an eccentric cam member for the lever 6, so that as the yarn tension increases the eccentric end 14 of the lever 5 cams the pawl lever 6 by means of the latters cam follower or offset member 15. The length of the lever 5 further affords a certain regulation of the tension on the strand 27 and maintains the same at a desired minimumdegree, due to the arcuate swing of the hook portion 13 which acts to alternately increase and decrease the leverage effect upon the spring 18 as the tension of the latter alternately increases and decreases during upward and downward travel of the cam. The L yarn tension is thus equalized at different points in the swing of the arm and maintained substantially constant during the swinging components of the arm before and after its engagement with the pawl lever 6.

Fig. 5 illustrates a modified form of a carrier 30 having a pawl-31 with an oiTset 32 formed at right angles to the detent portion 34 for coaction with a plurality of pawl locking devices 33 provided in racks 35 on the upright 36, presently referred to in detail. The bifurcated cam lever 37 is of contour similar to the lever 5 hereinbefore described and a bobbin 38 with ratchet teeth 39 is provided for functioning in the same manner as described for the bobbin l of Fig. 1.

In the form shown in Fig. 5, the thread guide upright 36 is preferably cast integral with the base portion 41 and is in the form of a flat strip with a yarn guide eye 42 at its upper end. The

base 41 is formed with spaced plates 40, a shutj tle piece a and pin 40h similar to the corresponding parts 3, 3a and 3b of the form shown in Fig. 1.

A plurality of yarn strands 43 and 44 unwind simultaneously from the package 45. They are then divided into the single strands 43 and 44 so that each strand Will pass singly under the hooks 46 vof the suspended weights 33, then through separate eyes 47 at the mid-portion of the upright 40 and downwardly together around the hook guide 48 on the bifurcated threadtensioning lever 37. The two strands then pass up.- wardly 'through the uppermost eye 42 and vare grouped with threads from aplurality of carriers which are jointly worked into the desired article of manufacture.

TheV locking means in this instance'coxnprises a plurality of thread tension weight bodies 33 which are suspended from the individual strands 43 and .44 of the yarn feeding package V45 during. the yarn feedingv operation. Upper and lower racks35, 35a and135b are formed on the inner' surfacey ofthe upright 36 in such manner that .as certain of the strands become severed during a feedingoperation one 4of the .weightmembers 33- vactuation by the thread tension will be guided into locking engagement with the pawl lever 31 as shownin Figs. 7 and 9.

In Fig. 6 the automatic pawl locking members 33 are shown suspended from the individual yarn strands. The yarn package and upper portion of the bobbin are here broken away for clarity. The locking members 33 are in this instance formed with hook shaped upper ends having long stems 49 which overlap the intermediate rack member 35a in such manner that the members 33 are guided and supported against vibration in all lateral directions, as clearly seen in Fig. l1.

In Fig. 7 the yarn strands have been severed' thereby causing the pawl locking members 33 to be positioned between the pawl offset member 32 and the inner surface of the thread guide upright 36. The thread tensioning lever 37 is here shown in released position.

The operation of the plural feed thread carrier shown in Figs. 5 to 9 inclusive is as follows: When one of the yarn strands breaks during rotation of the carrier in a braiding machine, one of the weights 33, which is suspended from the severed thread, will descend and remain in a lowered position, as shown in Fig. 7, and thus being wedged between the pawl offset 32 and the upright post 36, thereby locking the pawl 31 against swinging on its axis or pivot 50 upon lever 37. The bobbin 38 is then also locked from rotation on its spindle, and therefore, as the slack yarn of the unsevered strand is completely taken up, the unsevered strand wiil break, and release the remaining weight 33. The thread tensionV lever 37 will then be free of the yarn and will drop to its lowermost position as indicated in Fig. 7, due to the action of the spring 51 in the hollow shaft 52. The lever 37 will then stop the braiding machine by engaging and operating the stop-motion trip lever 53 as shown at 56'in Fig. 9.

The spring 51 functions in a manner similar to that of the spring 13 of Figs. l to 4. In this instance, however, the pawl lever 31 and the thread tension lever 37 are separately actuated by individual springs 51 and 55 mounted about the pivotal axis of each lever. 10, the spring 51 is positioned within the hollow shaft 52 of the thread tension lever 37. One end of the spring 51 is secured to a stationary pin 58, at a side of the shaft journal 59, and the other end is inserted in an aperture 60 on the opposite arm of the tension lever 37, so that the lever 37 is tensioned against the base member 41.

'Ihe pawl lever 31 is maintained in tension by the separate spring 55 on an extension of the pawl pivot 50 (see Figs. 8 and 9). One end of the spring 55 is stationed in a suitable aperture in the side of the pivot journal indicated at 55. The other end as seen at 61 is secured to a flange 62 provided on the pivot member 50 which latter is securely fastened to the pawl lever 31 for simultaneous rocking motion therewith.

Obviously the invention is not limited to levers of the particular forms here disclosed. Also, spring operated devices may be satisfactorily substituted for the gravity actuated members 33.

Each of the modications of the invention described and shown herein includes a spring pressed yarn tensioning lever arm and a spring pressed pawl lever, in which the coil spring portions are compactly arranged and substantially enclosed about the hollow shaft or pivot portions, the springs being thereby kept out of the lway of the fiying yarn, with less likelihood of As seen in Fig.V

being affected by collection of lint or entanglement with the threads. The tension of the springs may be readily altered when desired by simply increasing or decreasing the number of turns or coils before securing the ends in place in their respective apertures; and for fine adjustment purposes, a plurality of spaced apertures 19, 2U, 55 or 60, may be provided to receive the respective spring ends in tension-altering relation.

Another advantage of the construction resides in the arrangement of the bifurcated lever arm and the cppositely acting, relatively short, pawl lever, with their yarn engaging and tooth engaging portions disposed at the front of the yarn carrier, in compact order, and their cam portions intermediate their respective pivoted mountings. This arrangement also affords a very eicient'and uniform leverage between the coacting' cam portions of the arm and pawl, in which the pressure is applied evenly and gradually during the upstroke of the yarn tensioning lever arm without any jar or perceptible increase as the pawl is caused to release the toothed portion cf the bobbin. The entire construction is simple and rugged and not likely to get out of order, and is easy to disassemble or reassemble whenever the same may be necessary.

The patentable subject-matter herein disclosed and not covered by the claims is not dedicated to the public, but is claimed in our copending application Serial No. 724,486, led May 8, 1934.

Of course, the improvementsspecically shown and described, by which we Obtain the above results, can be changed and modifiedV in various ways without departing from the scope of the invention herein disclosed and hereinafter claimed.

We claim:

l. A yarn carrier for braiding machines including a rotatable yarn-package-supporting bobbin having a toothed portion, a pawl and lever on said carrier for engaging said 'toothed portion to prevent rotative movement of said bobbin, a second lever responsive to the'yarn tension, cf:- operative means 'on said levers for controlling the movement of said pawl according to predetermined variations in the yarn tension, and a spring common to, and for independently biasing, said levers.

2. A yarn carrier for braiding machines including a bobbin adapted to receive a rotatable yarn package, a face of said bobbin being provided with a ratchet element, a pawl arranged to engage said ratchet element, said pawl having a lever portion extending therefrom, a second lever adapted toV contact said pawl-lever to cause said pawl to become disengaged from said ratchet element and common spring means for independently biasing each of said levers toward an operative position thereof.

3. A yarn carrier for braiding machines including a bobbin adapted to receive a rotatable yarn package, a face of said bobbin being provided with a toothed formation, a pawl arranged to engage said toothed formation, said pawl having a lever portion extending therefrom, a second lever adapted to actuate said pawl lever for causing the pawl to become disengaged from said bobbin teeth and spring means operatively connected at opposite ends, respectively, to said pawl and second lever for biasing each toward an opposite position thereof.

4. In a braiding carrier, the combination of a base including a footpiece, a bobbin rotatably mounted on said base, said bobbin provided with.

a toothed portion, a yarn tensioning lever arm pivotallyl mounted on said base, a pawl lever pivotally mounted on said base above said lever arm, said pawl lever including a locking portion engageable with the toothed portion of said bobbin, spring means extending between saidlever arm and said pawl lever and arranged to normally urge the same away from each other, said leverarm and pawl1ever including cooperatively engageable portions whereby upward movement of said arm swings said pawl away from said toothed portion to permit rotation of said bobbin.

5. n a braiding carrier, the combination of a base including a footpiece, a bobbin rotatably mounted on said base, said bobbin provided with a toothed portion, a bifurcated yarn tensioning lever arm pivotally mounted on said base, a pawl lever -pivotally mounted on said base above said bifurcated lever arm, said pawl lever including a locking portion engageable with the toothed portion of said bobbin, spring means extending be tween said lever arm and said pawl lever and arranged to normally urge the same away from each other, said lever-arm and pawl-lever including cooperatively engageable portions whereby upward movement of said arm swings said pawl away from said toothed portion to permit rotation of said bobbin, the force of said spring being arranged to maintain substantially uniform the tension imposed by said lever arm on the yarn during certain arcuate swinging components of the arm movement.

6. In a braiding carrier, the combination of a base including a footpiece, a bobbin rotatably mounted on said base, said bobbin provided with a toothed portion at its under side, a biiurcated yarn tensioning lever arm pivotally mounted on said base, a spring for biasing said lever arm against upward movement, a pawl lever pivotally mounted on said base above said bifurcated lever arm, said pawl lever including a stop portion engageable with the toothed portion of said bobbin, said spring being connected to said pawl lever and arranged to normally urge the same toward rotation-restraining engagement with the teeth of said bobbin, said lever-arm and pawllever including cooperatively engageable cam portions whereby said arm on its upward move ment moves said pawl away from said toothed portion to release and permit partial rotation of said bobbin.

7. In a braiding carrier, the combination of a base including a footpece, a bobbin rotatably mounted on said base, said bobbin provided with a toothed portion, at its under side, a biurcated yarn tensioning lever arm pivotally mounted on said base, a spring for biasing said lever arm against upward movement, a pawl lever pivotally mounted-on said base above said bifurcated lever arm, said spring surrounding the'pivotal mounting ofsaid lever arm, one end of said spring being connected to one portion of the biiurcated arm and the opposite end vbeing connected to said pawl lever, said pawl lever including a stop portion engageable with the bin, said spring being connected to said pawl lever and arranged to normally urge the same toward rotation-restraining engagement with the teeth of said bobbin, said lever-arm and pawl-lever including cooperatively engageable cam portions whereby said arm on its upward movement moves said pawl away from sai-d toothed portion to release and permit partial rotation of said bobbin, said lever arm being arranged to substantially equalize the changing tension eilect of said spring on the yarn during certain components of the lever arms movement.

8. In combination, a base, a bobbin rotatable thereon including a toothed portion, a yarn-tensionng lever arm pivoted on the base, a spring biasing the arm against movement by the yarn, a pawl pivoted on the base and including a portion for cooperatively engaging the toothed'portion to stop the bobbin, the spring being connected to the pawl for urging the same toward position stopping the bobbn, the arm and the pawl including cooperating portions operative, when the arm moves against its bias, to release the pawl and the bobbin.

9. A" yarn carrier for braiding machines'including a rotatable yarn-package-supportingr bobbin having a toothed portion, a pawl and lever on said carrier for engaging said toothed portion to prevent rotativefmovement of said bobbin, a second lever responsive to the yarn tension, cooperatively engageable cam portionsr on said levers for controlling the movement of said pawl according to predetermined variations in the yarn tension, and a spring common to, and for independentl'y biasing, said levers. v

MAX KRISSIEP. HERMAN STAUB.

toothed portion of said bob-y 

